


Barney's Not Just A Purple Dinosaur

by marvelaf



Series: Home #1 [6]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Teenagers, Amputee Bucky Barnes, Awkwardness, Blood, Canon-Typical Violence, Deaf Clint Barton, Fake ID's, Foster Care, M/M, Mental Breakdown, Underage Drinking, beer pong
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2021-02-22 23:49:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23269003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marvelaf/pseuds/marvelaf
Summary: Tony's dage does not go as planned, but maybe that's for the best. Bucky learns about Clint the hard way.
Relationships: Clint Barton & Natasha Romanov, James "Bucky" Barnes & Clint Barton, James "Bucky" Barnes & Natasha Romanov, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Series: Home #1 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1567540
Comments: 5
Kudos: 48





	Barney's Not Just A Purple Dinosaur

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Idea of Us (is stronger than we are)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3272924) by [Squeaky](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Squeaky/pseuds/Squeaky). 



> I hope you enjoy!

Bucky has never run that fast in his entire life. The lake is waiting, and more importantly, Steve. Hopping through the gate and barreling down the rough path, Bucky can barely contain his excitement. At first sight of golden blonde hair, he halted his sprint to a walk.

“Hey!” Bucky calls out. Steve whips his head around and nearly knocks Bucky out with his smile. 

“Hey! Come ‘ere,” Steve yells, patting the spot in the dirt next to him. Bucky sits down and bumps his good shoulder against Steve’s.

“Thanks,” Bucky says, ducking his head a bit so Steve can’t see the blush on his cheeks. 

“For what?” 

“For giving me a reason to skip breakfast,” Bucky laughs.

“Why is that a good thing? Aren’t you hungry?” Steve asks, a worried crease forming between his brows. 

“No.” 

“Oh, okay,” Steve pauses for a second, “Are you going later?”  _ Huh? _

“Going where?” 

“Tony’s? Nat said she invited you?”  _ Oh! _

“Oh! Yeah, she invited me,” Bucky shrugs.

“Are you gonna go?” Steve asks once again.

“Are you?” 

“Yeah.” 

“I mean, I guess.” 

“Cool, cool,” Steve nods, “You have stuff?” 

“Stuff? You mean alcohol?” Bucky asks. 

“What else?” Steve laughs, “I still have to stop by the store to grab some stuff if you wanna come?” 

“Tony needs  _ you _ to bring alcohol to his party?”  _ Wait. _ “How old are you?” 

“Tony’s dad found his fake and shredded it, so it’s BYOB. And, I’m 18, why?” Steve answers.  _ Close call. _

“So you have a fake, or are you planning on robbing the liquor store?” Bucky laughs. 

“Of course I have a fake! Fuck the government!” Steve stands up and shouts across the lake, which sends Bucky into a fit of laughter. 

“Alright, alright, I think the fish get it,” Bucky chuckles, grabbing Steve by the wrist and attempting to pull him back into a sitting position. 

“Nah, we gotta hit up the store, and then it’s off to the party,” Steve says, yanking Bucky up off the ground. Not expecting the force, Bucky is pulled to his feet and some. Steve, quick with his reaction, reaches out for him and soon enough, a warm hand lands on Bucky’s waist. Steve’s breath softly hits Bucky’s skin as the tips of their noses brush. 

“Sorry,” Steve mutters, sounding as breathless as Bucky feels and not daring to move a muscle. His blue eyes lock with Bucky’s, and a pool meant for the boys to drown in forms around their bodies. Bucky watches as Steve’s eyes flick downward, landing on his lips.  _ Abort fucking mission.  _

“S’okay,” Bucky says, taking a step back, effectively removing Steve’s hand. A flash of hurt crosses over Steve’s face but leaves as quickly as it came. The other boy clears his throat before letting go of Bucky’s hand. 

“Right, well, let's go,” Steve says, gesturing for Bucky to go first.  _ If he wants to stare at my ass all he has to do is ask.  _

Bucky sits on the sidewalk outside the liquor store while Steve buys everything. When the blonde exits the store, Bucky shoots up.

“Gimme a bag,” Bucky demands. Steve only shoots a look at the knot in Bucky’s long sleeve before shaking his head. Bucky huffs.

“I’m disabled, not useless, you ass.” 

“Fine,” Steve says, handing over an 18 pack of beer cans. “So, how’d you lose it?” 

Bucky furrows a brow before Steve trips over his words to apologize. “Ah shit. James, I’m so sorry. Don’t even listen to me. You don’t have to explain shit to me.” 

“It’s alright,” Bucky laughs a bit at how red Steve’s face got. 

“I’m sorry. You don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t want to,” Steve pauses, “I mean unless you want to, I’ll always be here to talk or whatever, but only if you want to.” 

“I’ll keep that in mind.” 

The pair walks in silence all the way to Tony’s house. Steve knocks on the huge door, and they wait quietly. 

“You can call me Bucky if you want.” 

“What?” Steve asks, turning his head to face Bucky. Bucky refuses to turn his. 

“Bucky. That’s my name.” 

“Bucky,” Steve cocks his head to the side before smirking a bit, “okay.” Bucky feels a tingle up his spine when that name leaves Steve’s lips. Tony opens the door after what feels like years. 

“You guys came together?” was the first thing past his lips. 

“Hey, to you too, buddy,” Steve laughs, patting Tony on the shoulder as he passes him. There are a few people on the couch who cheer when Steve walks into the living room. 

“Hey, Tony. Thanks for inviting me,” Bucky smiles. His hand aches from the box of beer he’s been carrying. 

“Yeah, no problem dude,” Tony says absentmindedly, “the murder twins are outside if you were wondering.” 

“Oh, yeah thanks,” Bucky nods, handing the box to Tony before walking to the backdoor. 

“Beer!” Bucky hears Tony yell to the group in the living room as he steps onto the deck. Nat, Clint, and a few others sit around a table, glass bottles littered around them. 

“Uh, hey,” Bucky waves shortly. 

“James! You came!” Nat smiles wide. Clint messes his face up, taking a long swig from his bottle. 

“Yep. I’m here.” 

“James, this is Maria, Kate, and Scott,” Nat says, motioning to the table. They each mutter quiet hello’s. Bucky pulls his lips back into an awkward smile. He stands there a few moments, while the rest of the table falls back into the conversation. Nobody even looks up at him when he huffs lightly, bringing his hand up to rub the back of his neck, so Bucky goes back into the house. A table has been set up and red solo cups are laid out for beer pong, but Tony and some guy are fighting about what the proper amount of beer in each cup is. 

“Hey,” a familiar voice whispers from behind him. Bucky jumps a bit but relaxes knowing it’s just Steve. “You got a drink yet?” 

“No.” 

“Well do you want one?” Steve asks, laughing lightly. 

“Uh, sure.” Bucky nods. Steve runs over to the pong table and grabs a cup, before pouring a can of beer out into it. 

“Your highness,” Steve giggles as he gets down on one knee, holding the cup up for Bucky to take. 

“Charming,” Bucky snorts, taking a big gulp.

“Yeah, well,” Steve blushes. 

“You gonna play?” Bucky nods towards the now ready pong table. 

“That a challenge?” 

“Maybe it is. What’re ya gonna do about it?” Bucky raises a brow.

“I accept the challenge,” Steve says, a dangerous look in his eyes. If Bucky blushes, that’s between him and Steve. “Sam! Me and you versus Tony and Bucky! Let’s go!” 

Steve and the man Bucky now knows as Sam stand on the opposite side of the table. Tony nudges Bucky in the side. 

“Bucky?” He whispers brows raised. 

“Yeah.” 

“Interesting.” 

“Come on! Eyes to start!” Steve yells, holding his ball out. 

“You can do the honors,” Tony says, holding out a ping pong ball for Bucky.

“What do I do?” Bucky asks, grabbing the ball. 

“Look Spangles in the eye and throw the ball into a cup,” Tony whispers in his ear. Steve’s eyes are piercing when he looks in them, and Bucky’s back to drowning. He throws the ball and despite Tony’s yelling, he makes it in. Bucky smiles and quickly breaks eye contact with Steve to accept Tony’s congratulations. 

Team Cripple loses to Team Bald Eagle by one cup, but Bucky can't be too bothered, given the nice buzz that’s crept up along the way. 

“How the losers feel now?” Sam laughs loudly, pointing at Tony and Bucky. 

“Hey, you can’t make fun of the disabled!” Tony yells, still sore about losing. 

“Yeah,” Bucky yells, voicing his support for his teammate. 

“Hey Sam, let them lick their wounds in peace,” Steve says, playfully shoving at Sam’s shoulder. The two shove each other around like frat boys for a moment before Tony jumps in the middle to break them up. 

“Okay, okay, last time you guys started this, I lost two vases!” Tony yells, pushing Sam onto the couch. Steve slowly walks over to where Bucky was sipping his drink. 

“I guess that’ll teach you to challenge me,” Steve says, puffing his chest up and flexing his throwing arm. Bucky can’t help but stare.  _ I mean he flexed it right in front of my face, what does he expect?  _

“Guess so,” Bucky chuckles, “I should go see what Nat’s doing.” 

“I’ll come. I love Nat,” Steve smiles. 

“Be my guest,” Bucky says, going outside. A few more people have joined the group that was outside, but now a few of them were throwing a football around on the grass, including Clint. 

“Hey Nat,” Bucky says, placing his drink on the table and sitting in the now free chair next to her. 

“Nat,” Steve says, pressing a kiss to her cheek before sitting next to Bucky. 

“Boys,” Nat smiles, raising a brow at Bucky. Every neuron in Bucky’s brain is screaming at her to not mention the way Steve had moved his chair closer to Bucky. “So, Thor said he saw you guys walking together today,” Nat smirks. 

“Oh, uh, yeah. We were.” Steve stutters, his face lighting up bright red. 

“Guess you're glad I happened to have Bucky’s number on me last night, huh?” 

“Super glad, yeah,” Steve huffs out a laugh. Bucky took a big gulp of his beer, finishing it off. 

“I need a new drink,” Bucky says, going to stand up before Steve grabs the cup from his hand.

“I got it.” Bucky only nods, watching as Steve disappears into the house. 

“What the fuck!” Nat laughs. 

“I don’t know,” he chuckles, “but I’m not complaining,” 

“I think he’s really into you. He even asked for your number last night,” she smirks. 

“He asked for it?” Bucky blushes.

“Yeah, so don’t fucking hurt him or I’ll kill you.”

“Hey! I’m the one with all the trauma!” Bucky jokes.

“Well, I can’t stand up for you till I know anything about the trauma,” Nat shrugs nonchalantly. Bucky only hums in response, wishing he had his cup back. 

“How’s Clint?” Bucky asks.

“Do you really care or are you just changing the topic?” 

“Caught me.” Steve comes back through the door and offers Bucky his cup back. 

“What are we talking about?” Steve asks, settling back into his chair, so close he can feel Steve’s heat against his leg.   
“Clint,” Nat responds before Bucky can deny talking about anything. 

“Oh, cool. How’s his training coming? The finals are in what? Two weeks?” Steve asks. 

“Yeah, two weeks. He’s doing alright, all things considered,” Nat says, watching where Clint’s laughing and tossing the ball around. Steve only nods. The silence is comfortable until Clint comes back over. He picks up one of the half-full bottles and downs it in two gulps.

“What is that? Seven?” Nat laughs. 

“Going for a record tonight,” Clint says, glaring at Bucky. Call it liquid courage, or just plain stupidity, but Bucky stands so fast his chair falls to the ground behind him. 

“What the fuck is your problem, bro?” Bucky yells. Steve rises to his feet behind Bucky and places a hand on his shoulder. 

“Buck, calm down,” he whispers into Bucky’s ear. 

“My problem?” Clint asks a sick smirk on his lips. Bucky shakes Steve’s hand off.

“Yeah,” Bucky growls. Fire lights in his veins. 

“My fucking problem is you! You come here acting like your too fucking good for us, spewing your one month bullshit, and I’m sick of it!” Clint yells at the top of his lungs. The veins in his neck bulge and his face turns bright red. The people on the grass stop their game to stare at the scene. 

“Yeah! I’m out of here in one fucking month, Because at least I’ve got the sense to not get fucking adopted in a foster home! I mean, are you stupid?” Bucky shouts. 

“You’ve got no idea what you’re talking about. Just because you're afraid of your own goddamn shadow, doesn’t mean I’ve gotta live my life in fear! I mean what are you even afraid of!”

“Fuck you! At least I’m not controlled by Coulson! I know he’s the one who told you to apologize yesterday,” Bucky laughs, “you always do what he tells you to?” 

“You don’t know shit, James. Not one fucking thing about me,” Clint says, turning his back to Bucky and starting to walk away.

“Yeah? I know nothing? Then who’s Barney?” Bucky asks. Clint whips his head around and his eyes dig into Bucky’s skin. Nat tries to step in between the two, but Clint gently pushes past her, moving closer to Bucky. 

“What the fuck did you say?” 

“I said, who the fuck is Barney?” Bucky snarls, taking a step closer with each word. 

Time slows and the next thing Bucky knows, Clint’s charging, pinning him to the floor, throwing one, two, three punches before Steve pulls him off. The hardwood of the deck presses into Bucky’s back, even after Clint’s weight is gone. He thinks he hears Nat yelling for Clint to calm down, but he can’t be too sure. Steve’s worried face is hovering over his own, his mouth is moving but Bucky can’t hear anything over the noise of his heartbeat in his ears. Someone touches his face, lightly, and before he can move his head away, he hears another voice yell at them to not touch him.  _ Thank you.  _

Bucky knows he should get up, move, hit Clint back, do something, but his body is a magnet and the wood of the deck is a slab of metal. His breathing is loud and fast and his fingers itch for that dumb fucking bear. 

Tony’s telling everyone to back up and leave him alone, that the show is over. Nat’s still yelling at Clint from what Bucky could hear. Steve is standing by Tony, saying nothing. As slow as possible, Bucky sits up, his head pounding and dizzy, while his vision blurred in one eye. He reaches his hand up and rubs it down his face. It comes back covered in blood.  _ Shit.  _

“Where’s the bathroom?” Bucky mumbles, turning his body to face Tony. 

“Oh God,” Steve whispers, bending down and grabbing Bucky by the waist, lifting him to his unsteady feet.

“You got him?” Tony asks as Steve starts leading Bucky to the bathroom. 

“Yeah. You help Nat calm Clint down,” Steve calls over his shoulder. Bucky follows him blindly to the bathroom. 

Steve is silent as he sits Bucky down on the lid of the toilet. He’s silent as he searches the cabinets to find something to clean Bucky’s bloodied face. He’s silent as he dabs peroxide on the cut on Bucky’s brow. The rip of the band-aid wrapper may as well have been a gunshot. 

“You shouldn’t need stitches,” Steve whispers. Bucky nods his head, ignoring the pain that shoots out from behind his eye. 

“I- He just-” Bucky snaps his mouth shut when Steve’s brows shoot to his hairline. 

“Just what Bucky, irritates you?” Steve asks, his voice sharp.

“I mean, yeah. He treats me like shit,” Bucky mumbles. 

“So you bring up his brother who’s in prison? Were you trying to trigger him?” Steve questions.

“I didn’t know who Barney was! I was just trying to push his buttons or something! I don’t know,” Bucky mutters, shaking his head. 

“You should go back out there and apologize,” Steve says, placatingly placing a hand on Bucky’s shoulder. 

“Fuck that! He hit me! A-and I won’t apologize to someone who hits me! I fucking won’t” Bucky yells, grabbing Steve’s hand and throwing it off his body. 

“And Nat’ll make him apologize for that.”

“Well, neither of us will mean it so what's the point?” Bucky stubbornly crosses his arms.  _ And it won’t help. He fucking hit me.  _

“God, I don’t know Buck! I don’t know, but you’ve gotta do something to make this better, cause if you two go home,”  _ the house, _ “the way you are now, Phil will kill you guys.”  _ He hit me.  _

“He hit me! Why the fuck do I have to apologize? Just because you know what’s wrong with Clint and I don’t?” Bucky raises his voice slightly. Steve's eyes soften. 

“Buck-” Steve starts.

“No. Don’t ‘Buck’ me. You don’t know, you don't-” Bucky pauses, fighting back tears, “I can’t go back to being that kid who apologizes for getting hit. I won’t do that anymore. It wasn’t my fault, okay? I don’t deserve to be hit anymore, not by Clint, not by my dad, not by anyone.”

Steve huffs a short breath and his blue eyes water slightly. “Okay.” 

“Okay? That's it?” Bucky asks.

“What do you want me to say? That Clint hitting you isn’t your fault? Sure, maybe Clint shouldn’t have hit you, but you shouldn’t have tried to pick a fight with him or said anything about Barney,” Steve states, “and that’s what you're really apologizing for.” The eye contact between the two boys goes on, each challenging the other. 

“Fine,” Bucky huffs, pushing past Steve, heading towards the backyard. His heart pumps thunderously as he crosses the grass. Behind him, Steve’s shoes shuffle against the freshly cut lawn. 

Clint is sitting by a fire pit, his head in his hands. Nat has a hand on his back and Tony’s kneeling on the ground in front of him whispering into his ear. Bucky stops next to the chair and clears his throat a bit. Clint looks up, his eyes red, puffy and wet. There’s a raised red mark on his wrist that he keeps scratching at. 

“Oh God,” Clint moans at the sight of blood and bruises littering Bucky’s face, closing his eyes tight. Nat’s hand on his back doesn’t stop moving as Tony grabs the hand that Clint is using to scratch at the mark. 

“Uh, I’m sorry I said anything about Barney,” Clint flinches at the name, “that was fucked up. So, I’m sorry. But if you lay another hand on me I can’t promise I’ll be sorry again.” 

“I’m sorry I punched you. I’ve been working on my, um, my anger problems,” Clint says, his voice hoarse. Bucky nods. 

“Can you two just try and put this shit behind you?” Nat begs. Clint laughs lightly, covering his face with his hands, hunching his shoulders again. Tony places his hand on the back of Clint's head. 

“He hit me,” Bucky’s voice wavers, his eyes trained on Steve’s shoe. 

“I’ll make sure that won’t happen again. And Clint, I think Bucky understands that he’s never going to be Barney,” he flinches again, “and I don’t think he’s going to try to be either.” 

Clint lets out a sob. “I don’t give a fuck,” he shakes his head, “I just want my brother back.” Nat looks up at Tony.

“We know you do, bud. We know.” 

Clint only sobs harder. 

“I’ll go get him some water,” Steve says, jogging back to the house. Nat looks up at Bucky.

“How’s your face?” she asks. 

“Sore. But I’ll be fine in a day or two,” Bucky winces. Nat nods solemnly and mouths ‘I’m sorry’. Bucky nods. 

“We should go. Clint, come on,” Nat says, pulling Clint to his feet. She looks expectantly at Bucky. 

“I’ll catch up,” Bucky says. The redhead only throws Bucky a sad look over her shoulder before leading Clint back to the deck. Steve comes back and gives Clint a bottle of water and a short hug before walking back to where Tony and Bucky were standing. 

“You’re not going with them?” Steve asks. Bucky shrugs. 

“I’ll see them later,” he mutters. 

“Well, where are you going?” Steve asks. Bucky shrugs again. “You eat yet today?” Bucky shakes his head. “You wanna?” Bucky shrugs. “I’m going to take that as a yes. Tony, you wanna come?” 

“Yeah, whatever,” Tony says, his eyes trained on Bucky. 

“Cool, let’s go.”

When Bucky only orders a side salad, nobody says anything. When he spends the whole meal silently pushing the leaves around, nobody says anything. When he turns and checks the door every time the bell chimes, nobody says anything. And when he spends the whole meal pressed into Steve's side, well, Steve might have something to say about that later. 

**Author's Note:**

> Please don't hate Clint. They are both troubled teens who happen to trigger each other in the worst ways. Let me know what you think by leaving a kudo and commenting! 
> 
> Come yell at me on Tumblr: [marvel-af](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/marvel-af)


End file.
